The present disclosure is related to downhole telecommunication systems and methods and, more particularly, to coordinating downhole wireless receivers in order to achieve more reliable signals.
While drilling a gas or oil well, it is often necessary to send and to receive signals along the borehole to communicate with downhole instruments and tools. While it is possible to communicate over hard lines, such as electrical or optical cables, that run alongside a tubular disposed with the borehole, these hard lines run the risk of being damaged or otherwise rendered inoperable during well operations. As a result, it is often advantageous to employ wireless means of telecommunication between various devices within the borehole. Some conventional downhole telecommunication systems employ single repeaters arranged at intervals along tubing or piping extended within the borehole and are configured to convey wireless signals up and down the borehole.
Wireless communication between downhole devices along a tubular disposed within a wellbore may be hampered by the variable transmission paths through the annulus defined between the tubular and the walls of the borehole. In addition, intervening equipment between devices within the annulus may prevent direct line-of-sight communication paths between axially adjacent devices. In certain circumstances, telecommunication from a first device to a second device may be blocked or otherwise limited due to the spatially dependent aspects of the signal being transmitted by the first device.